The Opelousas courier., 1887-01-22
AN ORANGE HUMMOCK,
BY HARRIET PRESCOTT sporroRp.

BY HARRIET PRESCOTT sPoFFoRD.
Jul an could hardly remember the fin.
Did mos before the war, alt though i
could not be said to be the fault OF hi
mother and his elder sisters, or of OLE
Nanny Dinah, all Of whom kept tn,
egsnds OF those times pretty CONSTANT,
,efore his eyes aud ears. The splendor
she company, the feasts, the slaves. al
'eemed to him the veriest idle story be
hde the fact of unvarying corn bread ane
bacon now.
The house was tumbling to pieces; HI
wondered if there was a worse ruin in al
Florida; the almost boundless extent oil
me lands was uncultivated; the slaves
were all gone.
II don't see why we should be DOOR,
said Julian, having made up his mind
Tor a good square talk at last, with all
The land that is here"
That's half the reason" said his
father.
"But ! thought that it was off the
and people made their money"
when they already have money and
The hands with which to cultivate land
1t takes hands and it takes means to
grow cotton and sugar. / can hardly be
expected to so to work myself!n
Them" persisted Julian, "why
souidn t we hire people, and pay them
rom the crop when it comes2b
You don t know what you are talking
about, my son."
y know we have hundreds of acres of
land, and if they were mine. I think that
could do something with them,D
You may do what you please with
Them. said his father. II give You
carte blanche" and he went back to the
reading OF the Congressional Record. Or
at least he would have gone back, il
Julian would have let him. But Julian
had not begun to talk without beng yery
much In earnest, and o he meant to
go through.
Well" he said, laughing, "carte
blanche is a good thing to have, but one
needs some help to do anything with
even that. / think if you will let me
have the hummock in Okemolkokee
and will lend old Cy to
cambridge and mel
"Old Cyrus! What would your
mother do without him, and what would
Rachel and Rebecca do7 The only one
OF all the hands that has STAYED faithful
us You can do nothing without
4But Northern people come here. and
seem sure of doing well. And We have
land they come to buy. That's cap
tai. II you lend old Cy to Dan and me.
won't ask you for more, for we've
saving our odd pennies for this.
md we've got enough to buy oil the
traits we want, and Col. Burbeck will
,1ve us N besides.n
sGrafts2a said his father, pushing up
Us sllver-bowed spectacles in p~erplexitY.
tGrafts?'
eyes,
What are you going to do with
"Look at them, said Julian, with q
TIN. so ! see you'll lend me Cy. What
Rachel went along with us5n
~ our mother might not approve
"MotherM approve fast though. +
eckon, when we're getting five thousand
year.
Five thousand a year," cried his
ather, letting the Congressional lie ord
Have you gone daft, Julian?n
wen, father, said Julian, with d
reafiaugh, throwing back the dark curl
nat was always dropping into his eyes,
I'll send for you to make.us q visit ON
big hummoek In O~kemolkokee Ever
lade by-and-by, and then we'll see.n
- don't know about it; Idonst know, .
40 ms father, picking up the scattered
'aves OF mis- cherished document. But
ulian knew that his father would lend
ld w to cambridge and himself, and
9 made his preparations for the enter
rise, saying little or nothing. Rachel
already agreed to come to them
'henever they should send for her.
1t was q week from that day that
20 g pack OF simple provisions, with
les, picks. hatchets and pruning
niVes, and some Irvine hammocks In
EDITION, Julian and his party started on
lelr excursion, es they called it, Julian
on his back--greatly to old Cy,s
.lsturbance, but, then, old IN couldn't
TRY everything himself-a bundle
rapped ia moss, which he gaylv de-
AIRED they must save irst Id case Of fire.
If II was all their fortune.
aBress yer heart, honey said old Cy,
here's dis yer fro gwine to be, onlest
ars Dan knocks my pipe onto d cypress
eeg An its SO damp iii desc yer
vamns, spect it'll put dc pipe out any
1w.n
They made their beds that night ii
hafnmocks that they slung hiph iii
bonghs, and that Julian had brought
ong against the wishes OF old Cy, who
.oilghta bed of broken bou. ;hs iii for
king. snakes or not.
What . scene it was on which their &
'es opened III the early mornIngI Ce-
lrs supurb els the cedars of Lebanon.
'opping great circles Of shade, the huge
re-oaks, trembling with webs and fes-
ms Of grey mess, that made sheets of
Almonds % u swung in the sun, here
q there 9 p~allnstree, lifting its green
own II the clear air, and yIstas into
9 rich vendure OF the swamp beyond,
y with every color, and sweet with
scentof honeymoon snckIe, .AnilIa.
liotrope and great unknown flowers. ]
tn and ont the tfickets flashed wings /
Il Jewels; scarlet fiamingoes st cd ii
pools, the great white lie Ill rose
aYliy, and little alligatoss, tina looked I
Y they were living bronzes, srppt up !
sun themselves Oh the bauxs. !
After they had finished their frugal